Students get ‘egg-sposure’ to STEM education

The mission Saturday morning was for a group of students to develop a contraption that would protect an egg on impact after a three or four-story drop.

But the catch in order to win was for the groups to design the apparatus using the lowest budget, and with limited supplies.

The activity was part of the annual Expanding Your Horizons STEM Career Day for Girls — a national initiative Penn State participated in to give local youth, specifically girls, the opportunity to learn more about science, technology, engineering and math.

It was hosted for the fifth year by the Eberly College of Science, and partially sponsored by the American Association of University Women in State College, said education program associate Mandy Biddle.

“Science is not just a typical scientist in a lab coat at a microscope,” Biddle said. “There are so many different kinds of sciences that go beyond that, and these activities expose them to the things they could do in all different careers. We hope that will wear off on them, especially the girls, to influence them into studying STEM careers in their future.”

Biddle said this is the first year the event was also open to high school students. In the past it only targeted those in middle school.

And with the age expansion, came its largest participation rate to date with about 130 students from middle and high schools in central Pennsylvania, Biddle said.

It also included about 100 student volunteers, and one non-student volunteer, Jana Phan, from Australia, who made it a goal to volunteer and work at labs at different universities around the world.

She said she decided to reach out to Penn State and help with the event after researching it online.

The rocketry workshop was one of the first activities organized by the Penn State LionTech Rocket Labs at the South Frear Building.

Club outreach coordinator Samantha Galla, a sophomore engineering student, said the goal was for students to design an egg-drop mechanism with a $1,000 budget.

However, most teams went under budget.

The money was imaginary, but student volunteer Laura Reese, a senior, said she kept track of how many supplies each group was using.

A balloon was valued at $105. A 12-inch piece of string was $45 and duct tape was about $130.

Reese said the potential for more valuable supplies cost more.

The highest at $200 was Bubble Wrap. The lowest at $10 was straw and toothpicks.

“Each supply has a monetary value to it,” Reese said. “Most groups have gone under budget at around $600, but there is one group that only used somewhere in the $200 range. I’m curious to see how they do.”

That ended up being the wining team.

“It doesn’t matter how much you use, it matters how you design the contraption,” Reese said.

A group of five girls who named their team “Team Vince,” in honor of their student mentor Vince Mele, constructed a parachute-like design.

They put Bubble Wrap around the egg, and then put the egg inside a cup. That cup was attached by string to a plastic bag used as the parachute. Underneath the egg-filled cup, were three balloons used as cushion.

It cost the group $695.

“We knew we had a big budget, but also knew we’d come under the budget with the supplies we thought would work,” seventh-grader Faith Young, of North Clarion County School District, said.

The students in Faith’s group also included Mount Nittany Elementary School sixth-graders Emma Corby, 12, and Ella Corson, 11; Our Lady of Victory sixth-grader Sarah Grove, 12; and Penns Valley Area seventh-grade student Kelsey Hull.

Biddle said she hopes the STEM fair will expand in the future, but isn’t sure that will happen.

“We hope to do more, but how much can we actually expand in the room we have to use?” she said. “I think a more realistic goal would be to hold this event more than once a year, and partner with local schools.”

There were nearly 20 workshops Saturday morning and afternoon held at buildings throughout Penn State’s campus.

This story was originally published January 30, 2016 at 8:20 PM with the headline "Students get ‘egg-sposure’ to STEM education."